The PokerStars Caribbean Tour may have lured record-breaking crowds, but for those who couldn't afford the sunny shores of the Bahamas, there was plenty of post Christmas action available on more homegrown soil in the form of the Irish Poker Championships and the London Poker Masters.
The first event of the year was the London Poker Masters at the infamous Gutshot Club in London. Running from the 2nd to the 6th of January, the festival was possibly scheduled a little too close to the New Year festivities as numbers throughout never quite met the very high standards that previous Gutshot events had set. As a result, the £500 Main Event received little more than 60 players.
With 10k in chips and a 45 minute clock, the event was a far cry from the quite superb structure of the Gutshot Series of Poker, but was nevertheless deep enough to allow for plenty of top class play. Hoping to showcase their own personal display of top class play were Gutshot faces Nik Persaud (left), Simon Hennessey, Mike Tse and WSOPE finalist Dominic Kay.
After two days of hard fought out play, it was Day 1 chip leader Matthew Franklin who reigned supreme come the final whistle, a four way split with Mohammed Ali, George Achilles and U Akhtar seeing the former take home a lion's share of £8,300. Just missing out on the deal was Nik Persaud who finished in 5th after heading into Day 2 second in chips.
1st Matthew Franklin -- £8,300
2nd Mohammed Ali -- £6,500
3rd George Achilles -- £6,300
4th U Akhtar -- £5,700
Whilst the Gutshot catered for the London contingent, Ireland were in luck as the Irish Poker Championships prepared for its triumphant return. After attracting an impressive field last year when Irishman John Clancy left victorious, this year was no different with a whole host of names supporting the event.
Joining local boys such as Michael Muldoon, Rory Liffey, Roy Brindley, Noel Furlong and Mick McCloskey was the star-studded bus of Robert Williamson III, Mike Sexton, Captain Tom Franklin, Marcel Luske and WSOP bracelet winner Ciaran O'Leary, not to mention Kevin O'Leary, Ian Woodley, Mohammed Shafiq, Ali Mallu and Neil Channing, all of whom were flying the flag of St George.
With the swanky Radisson Hotel in Galway brimming with atmosphere, it was Irishman Keith 'The Gent' McFadden who took the bull by the horns, accruing the chip lead right from the off and taking a near 700k stack onto the final table. Joining him on the final table would be blondeite Mick 'Slick Kid' McCool (right), one of eight Irishman making up an all Irish final.
Although Keith McFaddon had dominated throughout, his day would come to an abrupt and surprisingly early end when his Kings were outdrawn by Tom Watson's A-K before finally petering out in 6th.
The Irish crown, however, would instead fall into the hands of local hero Jude Ainsworth. Heads up against Mick McCool, Jude Turned a straight with T-8s against McCool's Pocket Fives to claim victory and the much sought after €145,000 first prize.
1st Jude Ainsworth -- €145,000
2nd Mick McCool -- €110,000
3rd Tommy Watson -- €85,000
4th Trevor Dineen -- €35,000
5th Mickey Moran -- €25,000
6th Keith McFadden -- €18,000
7th Glen McCabe -- €15,000
8th Bernard Brady -- €12,000